Former Baylor star QB Jarrett Stidham announces where he'll play next year

Published Dec. 14, 2016 8:35 a.m. ET

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Aaron Torres

National Signing Day is just a little under two months away, but Auburn just picked up their biggest commitment of the 2017 recruiting class.

Former Baylor quarterback and five-star high school prospect Jarrett Stidham announced Saturday that he will resume his college career at Auburn. The sophomore chose the Tigers over a handful of other schools including Florida and Texas A&M.

Stidham has been publicly leaning towards Auburn for months, and fueled speculation that he would indeed become a Tiger when he took a visit there a few weeks ago. He will join a solid Auburn roster that won eight games this year, and his presence could be enough to get the Tigers back in the SEC title chase.

Stidham was a high school superstar in Texas and began his college career last season at Baylor, where he backed up starting QB Seth Russell. After Russell was sidelined with a neck injury, Stidham took over the starting job and threw for 1,265 yards, 12 touchdowns and just two interceptions.

Stidham made the decision to leave Baylor in May, after head coach Art Briles was fired in the midst of the school's sexual assault scandal. Stidham surprisingly elected to sit out the entire 2016 season and work out on his own while taking classes at a local junior college.

It seems likely that he could step in and earn the Auburn's starting QB job right away. The Tigers still have Sean White and Jonathan Franklin III, but neither player has proven to be the difference-maker that Stidham could be.

Only time will tell. But the 2017 SEC West race just got a bit more interesting.

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